Human Intelligence

What determines human intelligence? What is its relationship to creativity? Its potential for change? To illuminate some of these questions, J. McVicker Hunt has gathered together a number of essays previously pub-lished in fra/jsaction magazine. This volume contains some of the answers that have been found, out emphasizes that we still need to learn a great deal about developing ways to assess our human resources. We remain, for example, uncertain about what abilities pinpoint intelligence, and the extent to which intellectual aoility can predict classroom success—or even the ability to perform a job well.

Articles in this book sl'ow that indications of heritability have nothing to say about the educabiliry of individuals or classes or races. Investigations indicate that there is a great deal more plasticity in the development of behavior and abilities thnn was presumed by those who believe in predeter-mined intelligence. They also indicate that knowledge and ability both grow during the early years; knowledge grows throughout life; but the ability to acquire new knowledge

These areas of developing knowledge are of political as well as social significance. Any attempts to upgrade the abilities of the poor or the disadvantaged must necessarily be concerned with manipulation of the envir-onment. These articles represent the most advanced available information about the relationship of experience, environment and heredity to the de-velopment of measurable intelligence.